1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switcher control device, a switcher control method, and an image synthesizing apparatus. More specifically, the invention relates to a switcher control device in which when an effects switcher selects an image taken by a camera as a background image, the switcher control device determines whether a superimposition image is superimposed on the image taken by the camera based on angle information and zoom value information about the camera, and instructs the effects switcher to do superimposition, thereby economically implementing superimposition according to shooting states without causing degradation of the overall functions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a relayed broadcast such as a sports broadcast, in order to represent descriptions of a stadium and players, or comments made by commentators, graphics such as subtitles and lines are sometimes superimposed in the picture area of the relayed broadcast. Superimposition of subtitles is a classic technique having been conducted. However, the positions of players are changing every moment, and it is necessary to make graphics drawings for commentary as matched with the image at that moment.
A CG (Computer Graphics) device is used for creating such superimposition images, and the process of superimposing computer graphics on a relayed image is often conducted by a studio device called an effects switcher. In the effects switcher, a circuit that handles superimposing images is called a keyer. In the effects switcher, a plurality of keyers is generally provided.
Heretofore, for operating live broadcasting, a large number of staffs is manned such as camera operators, CG device operators, effects switcher operators, audio mixer operators, image material editors, and an administrator to switch news. In recent years, such a technique has been developed that a single computer system controls a variety of types of devices for labor savings.
JP-A-H04-157882 (Patent Document 1) describes a technique that when the pan, tilt and zoom values of a camera fall in a predetermined condition, character information and graphics information stored in advance are superimposed on an image taken by the camera.